Lambent Pandemic
The Lambent Pandemic was the infection of the surface of Sera by the Imulsion parasite. Initially, the Lambent only consisted of Locust that became infected and mutated through exposure to Imulsion, but it spreaded to infect the surface creatures as well as the humans. This new threat forced the COG to ally with the Stranded to fight against both the Lambent and the remnants of the Locust Horde which resulted in a three-way war for control of Sera. The Lambent reached the surface of Sera first in the middle of the ocean. A Gorasni frigate was sunk by the Stalks, followed by a freighter and two trawlers. Following the destruction of the Emerald Spar Imulsion Platform, the Lambent began moving toward Vectes Island and New Jacinto. The Pandemic eventually spreaded over all of Sera before the Imulsion Countermeasure Weapon destroyed all Imulsion and everything infected by it including all Lambent lifeforms. History Discovery The Lambent Pandemic occurred to the humans around the early years of the Pendulum Wars. The COG discovered that Imulsion had mutagenic and teratogenic effects on the humans after long exposure, but the early effects are known as an illness called Rust Lung. After building the New Hope Research Facility, the COG and Department of Health wished to find a cure and keep the effects in secret. However, the effects led to the creation of poisoned, mutant humans known as Sires and the information was leaked out of office. New Hope was shut down, but Doctor Niles Samson and his research are moved to a secret laboratory at Mount Kadar where his continuing experiments resulted in the creation of the Locust Horde.Gears 5 Classified Matters Though the New Hope Research Facility was shut down, the Imulsion research did not stop, but was merely relocated. In the early years of the Pendulum Wars, the COG built a resort bunker on the remote island of Azura. The bunker was designed as an evacuation point for the COG leadership, scientists and high-profile citizens in the event of a global catastrophe. Late in the Pendulum Wars, the COG began forcibly moving the scientists to Azura while telling the public that the kidnapped scientists died. 17 years before Emergence Day, Dr. Elain Fenix while exploring a Hollow cave found a dead Rock Shrew that inexplicably had an extra, vestigial, pair of legs. Believing that she discovered the last remaining member of a genus long thought extinct, Elain inferred that the mutated Shrew was a genetic relative of a six-legged creature from a children's bedtime story. Though her husband, Dr. Adam Fenix thought that the legs are a random mutation, Elain was ardent in her belief that the Shrew was related to the long extinct creature and had the research data to back her claim up. What Elain could not have possibly known at the time was that the creature that she discovered was suffering from Imulsion infection and the mutations are a sign of Lambency. Though this was humanity's first publicly known encounter with Lambency, the creatures in the Hollow including the Locust Horde are subjected to the effects of extreme Imulsion exposure for much longer. At least 9 years before Emergence Day, the Lambent creatures organized themselves to an extent that they are able to fight the Locust on at least even terms, marking the beginning of the Lambent War. When Elain returned to the Hollow eight years later to follow up on her discovery, the Locust leader, Queen Myrrah had her executed to prevent a premature human discovery of the Locust. Four years later, Adam who was following his late wife's journals traced her body to the Hollow where he crossed paths with the Locust. While there, he discovered the true extent of the Lambent threat and found out about Queen Myrrah's plans to leave the Hollow and colonize the surface at the expense of humanity. Trying to prevent a war between the humans and the Locust, Adam met with Myrrah five years before Emergence Day and assured Myrrah that he had the expertise and resources necessary to find a cure for Lambency. All of what she needed to do was to give him the time to find it. Myrrah gave Adam five years to find a cure, but after the repeated failures, the Queen's patience finally ran out. The Locust enacted their plan to leave the Hollow, resulting in the start of the Locust War. Throughout the course of the Locust War, Chairmen Tomas Dalyell and Richard Prescott continued the pre-Emergence Day policy of moving the key scientists and research personnel to Azura. When the COG learned that Adam knew about the Locust and the Lambent years before E-Day, Prescott evacuated him and his assistant to Azura in an attempt to discover a way to destroy Lambency. Adam brought a sample of Imulsion and the remains of the Rock Shrew that Elain found years earlier with him. Desperate to find a cure, Adam injected himself with Imulsion and discovered it's true nature that Imulsion was a parasitic fungus-like lifeform. Adam also determined that, in as little as a few years, Imulsion would destroy or infect all other forms of life on the planet. After numerous attempts to cure the infection via traditional methods failed, Dr. Fenix developed the Imulsion Countermeasure Weapon which killed the Lambent cells by using a wave of targeted radiation that would envelop the entire planet. Unfortunately, Adam did not have the time to tune the weapon, meaning that it would also kill any creature that was heavily exposed to Imulsion even if it was not fully Lambent yet. This included the entirety of the remaining Locust Horde. Locust-Human War As early as the first month after Emergence Day, the COG soldiers and officials spotted the Wretches that appeared to glow a golden color and are volatile even after death. A rumor that was said in the COG during the Battle of Halvo Bay became real. The COG was forced to inform the Gears about the glowing Wretches and their dangers. 14 years after E-Day, the COG began the Lightmass Offensive by building the Resonator to map the Locust tunnels out and destroy them with the Lightmass Bomb. When Delta Squad was ordered to infiltrate the Lethia Imulsion Facility to plant the Resonator, Sgt. Marcus Fenix, Pvt. Dominic Santiago, Augustus Cole and Damon Baird reported the glowing Wretches in the courtyard of the facility to Command. Command warned them that the Lambent Wretches are reported and they exploded on command or when killed. Delta Squad had to clear the Lambent Wretches in the facility and the Outer Hollows to plant the Resonator. Since the Resonator failed, Delta Squad downloaded the mapping data from the Haldane Hall which was used to put into the Lightmass Bomb on the train delivering it to the Hollows. Along the way, the Lambent Wretches boarded the train and attempted to cut the train's power and disconnect the rest of the train. Delta was successful in defeating both the Lambent Wretches and General RAAM and bombing the Outer Hollows. However, the Lightmass Bomb proved more of a disadvantage to the humans and the Locust. Because Lambency spreaded through Imulsion fumes, a majority of the Imulsion in the Outer Hollows evaporated into the atmosphere. It spreaded into the Inner Hollows and created more numbers for the Lambent Army trying to overthrow Nexus. For the humans, the Lightmass Bomb brought back what became the beginning of the Pandemic, Rust Lung. Rustlung Returns Unfortunately for the survivors and soldiers stationed near Timgad and other Imulsion Townships, the Lightmass Bomb caused the return of Rust Lung. The cases are reported in the civilians of Timgad and soldiers stationed there including Jonathan Harper and Michael Barrick. The Rust Lung spreaded as time went on, eventually infecting every human on Sera around 17 A.E. Eventually, the Rust Lung patients are geared up along with the healthy soldiers to fight in Operation: Hollow Storm. Operation: Hollow Storm Due to the Lightmass Bomb awakening the Riftworm and realizing the danger of Jacinto sinking, the COG ordered nearly every able-bodied men to dig into the Hollow and destroy the Locust. In the midst of the first wave, Prescott realized that the only true way to locate Nexus and Queen Myrrah would be to trace their steps back from the New Hope Research Facility where they first studied Lambency and created the Locust Horde. Prescott "declassified" the disk and ordered Delta to investigate the facility for any leads on the Locust stronghold and their Queen. Upon entering the facility and going through "clearance," Delta came across the abandoned facility and the security system based on the personality of Dr. Niles Samson. While Delta traversed the facility, they finally found the intel leading them to Nexus through Mount Kadar via a recorded message which was the last message about the children. However, doing this awoke the Sires, the Lambent humans which attacked Delta. Delta escaped, killing most if not all of the Sires and managed to reach Nexus, the Locust capital. When Delta planted the beacon and began the second wave of Hollow Storm in Nexus, the COG came across a horrible truth. Upon invading the main tower, Delta discovered that the Locust are fighting with their Lambent brethren. At the same time that the COG invaded Nexus from above, the Lambent are attacking from below, coincidentally weakening the stronghold's defenses and making it easier for the COG. They eventually discovered how the Lambent are what caused the Locust to emerge and attack on E-Day. Queen Myrrah wished to invade and conquer the surface while she was leaving the Lambent in the Hollows. But, she began following an old plan made by Adam Fenix to evacuate the Locust Horde to the surface and sink Jacinto City which would drown the Lambent in the flooded Hollows. She was unsuccessful as the humans sank Jacinto first which caused a majority of the Locust to die while the water rose the Imulsion into the soil and the ocean, accelerating the Lambent Pandemic. Ocean Attacks The Lambent are responsible for apparently anonymous attacks on the fishing vessels around Pelruan. Among the vessels that the Lambent sunk was a UIR frigate. The evidence of the Lambent Stalks was found aboard one vessel. A Stalk punched straight through the hull and released the Polyps. Marcus Fenix, accompanied by Bernadette Mataki encountered what seemed to be a Drudge aboard a fishing vessel. It mutated multiple tentacles and exploded when it was killed. Attack on Emerald Spar Delta discovered the Lambent Stalks heading toward the Emerald Spar Imulsion Platform and quickly headed there to defend it. The two Stalks ended up punching up through the well bay of the platform and released hundreds to thousands of Polyps. In the battle that followed, one of the Stalks was destroyed by KR-239, but the platform caught on fire and was eventually abandoned. The platform ended up collapsing into the ocean while the Lambent seemed to retreat as there was no sign of the remaining Stalk afterward. This deprived the COG of their only source of Imulsion. Assault on Vectes First Battle of New Jacinto Preparing for an invasion of Vectes by the Lambent Stalks, the COG was surprised when the three Lambent Leviathans attacked the island with two heading to New Jacinto and one smaller one heading to Pelruan. The Leviathans unleashed hundreds of Polyps that the defending forces are forced to battle. The Polyps are lured into traps and killed while the COG Navy tried to take the Leviathans out. Eventually, the submarines called the CNV Clement and Zephyr managed to get a lock on one of the Leviathans and blow it up with a combined torpedo attack while the other one was lured into a trap by Delta-One by using the CNV Falconer and was killed by Damon Baird with the Hammer of Dawn which also destroyed a third of a New Jacinto. This Leviathan beached and released a couple more Polyps, but these are dealt with. Battle of Pelruan While the First Battle of New Jacinto was going on, a third, smaller Lambent Leviathan was attacking Pelruan. The Leviathan released the Polyps in three waves that attacked the town and destroyed KR Three-Three. Eventually, the Leviathan was killed by the crew of KR-239 which unleashed all of it's ammo into the Leviathan's head, killing it. The Leviathan exploded, nearly destroying the King Raven and the rest of the Polyps are killed. Further attacks and the collapse of the COG For several months following the battles at New Jacinto and Pelruan, the Lambent continued to besiege the island from the Stalks and in one case, another Lambent Leviathan. The various Lambent creatures including Polyps, Lambent Dogs, Lambent Cats and a Lambent Bull are released all over the island. This also resulted in the creation of an Imulsion field on the island, allowing the COG and their Gorasni allies to refuel for the first time since Emerald Spar was destroyed. Eventually, after New Jacinto came under attack by the Lambent lifeforms and Pelruan was flooded, the COG was forced to disband and abandon Vectes to the Lambent and head to the mainland which was also besieged by the Lambent forms. Global Pandemic 18 months after the sinking of Jacinto, Chairman Prescott abandoned the COG and vanished, leaving the last remnant of the COG to fend for themselves as Stranded. Marcus Fenix and Delta squad took residence up on board the CNV Sovereign along with many other Gears and civilians. While the Sovereign was sailing through the Lambent waters, a large group of Lambent Stalks emerged from the ocean around the ship, forcing Delta to defend it. Around this time, Richard Prescott landed in a King Raven with two Gears, bringing a message to Marcus from Adam Fenix revealing that he was still alive and being held captive by the Locust. The Lambent also sent a Lambent Leviathan to attack the ship and though it was killed by a crate of Tickers being dropped on it, the ship was destroyed in the process along with the Centennial Bridge. During the Mission to Hanover, Delta also came into conflict with the Lambent lifeforms. .]] The Lambent attacked Anvil Gate during the Battle of Anvil Gate, sending three Stalks with Lambent Drones, Lambent Drudges and a Lambent Berserker. Most are killed by the retreating forces while the rest, except the Berserker was killed by the Hammer of Dawn. The Berserker survived a direct strike, but was killed by multiple shots to it's Imulsion core. During the Mission to Mercy and the Mission to Char, the Lambent attacked with most of the enemies in Mercy being Lambent Humans who are turned Lambent due to Imulsion exposure. In order to destroy the Lambent and Locust forces in Mercy, Dominic Santiago was forced to sacrifice himself to ram a fuel tank with a vehicle, causing a massive explosion that obliterated all, but the Gears who escaped. At Char, the Lambent took over an Imulsion refinery and attempted to prevent Delta Squad from getting the fuel from it, but failed. During the Second Battle of Azura, the Lambent attacked, attempting to prevent Adam Fenix from detonating the Imulsion Countermeasure Weapon that would destroy them, sending a variety of forms to attack. The attack failed as the weapon activated and destroyed all Lambent in the area as it powered up. The weapon went off completely and destroyed all Lambent lifeforms across the planet and all Imulsion, ending the invasion and the Pandemic. Aftermath Following the end of the pandemic, relative peace returned to Sera as the Locust are apparently wiped out as well. However, 25 years after the Pandemic ended, the Locust returned, having evolved into an even greater threat, the Swarm.Gears of War 4 Appearances *''Jacinto's Remnant'' *''Anvil Gate'' *''Coalition's End'' *''Dirty Little Secrets'' *''Gears of War 3'' *''Gears of War 4'' References Category:Wars Category:Lambent Locust